reduction of universal credit payments for working part time — Scope | Disability forum
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reduction of universal credit payments for working part time

Gary292
Gary292 Community member Posts: 7 Connected
Work 15 hours per week which is £450 p/ month universal credit says can earn £192 then they deduct 63 pence in the pound on £258 which is £162.54 making take home pay £287.46 per month for working 60 hours a month which works out to £4.79 per hour, what happened to the minimum wage we're supposed to get,I think the DWP should be done for this as making someone work for less than the minimum wage.i am not in the least suprised that people claim universal credit and work cash in hand.

Comments

  • BenefitsTrainingCo
    BenefitsTrainingCo Community member Posts: 2,621 Pioneering
    @Gary292

    A couple of things - if you are over 25, you should now be paid at least £7.83 an hour, as that is the minimum wage. So it might be worth checking whether you are getting the right amount - your wage should come to £117.34 weekly, or £508.95 pcm (there's no tax or NI on that level of wages, so net is the same as gross). If you're 21-24, the minimum wage is £7.38 - again, it looks as if you're not getting as much as you should be.

    The work allowance (the bit which you can earn without it affecting your UC) has also gone up, and is now £198. 

    Anyway, apart from that, you're right in that you get to keep the £198, and also, effectively, 37% of the excess - the other 63% comes off your UC. 

    Let's say that you do just get £450 a month (but do please check your rate of pay). £450 - £198 is £252. 63% is £158.76. So that's what you lose from your UC.

    That means you are working for an additional £291.24 (£450 - £158.76). That's still not very much I realise, but it may be more if your actual wage is a bit higher than you think. 

    Only you can decide whether the other benefits of working are worth it to you. I'm assuming you have limited capability for work - if you didn't, you might not even get the work allowance! (You only get this if you have limited capability for work or you have children). If you have limited capability for work, you can't be sanctioned for leaving a job, but of course there may be other reasons why you want to keep working.

    If you're annoyed about the way UC treat your earnings then the only course of action I can suggest is to write to your MP.  It's important that MPs understand that UC isn't giving people the incentive to work that the DWP keeping claiming it does.

    Will
    The Benefits Training Co:

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